Books of Truth and Blue Cards
by AzulTheBlueDragon
Summary: After Lelouch's death. Sorta an R3. Suzaku hates Lelouch with little regret of killing him. Then he stumbles upon his journals and he doesn't know what to believe. In the journal, there's a card telling him that if he succeeded to find the last one, he'll find Lelouch and the truth. On Nunnally's orders he goes. The empress is left with the task of clearing Lelouch's name.
1. Chapter 1

Two years. Two years since the death of Lelouch vi Britannia. Two years since Suzaku had murdered him with no regrets. Lelouch deserved death, no, something worse. For his crimes... Lelouch deserved eternal pain. For taking away Euphy... For Nunnally. Everyone that he hurt and killed. For even murdering his own father and mother. He took the lives of his brothers and sisters with no mercy. Lelouch had hurt him with no feelings at all. He was wrong in every way, and some how he managed to drag Suzaku into this mess. Yes. Lelouch vi Britannia should rot in hell forever. And ever. Suzaku thought under the mask.

Today was Lelouch's birthday and Suzaku was going to do something he hadn't done in years. Enter Lelouch's old bedroom. Why? Because he needed to burn somethings of Lelouch's to show the world how much he- no. Zero hated him. As the emperor, Lelouch would often lock himself in that room and allow no one to enter. He would go without food for days, back then Suzaku would worry about him, but now that he had time to think about it, Lelouch deserved all of that pain. Every second. Then after that, no one bothered to go in or even touch it, or maybe it was because Nunnally ordered it. She was too protective of her brother's things.

Dressed in the Zero costume, Suzaku's hand turned on the door nob. It slowly opened and the first thing that Suzaku saw was... Dust. Lot and lots of dust. Everywhere. Other than that, the room looked no different. Same red curtains, same four poster bed, same desk and chair, and same bathroom. Lelouch had the best of everything... How original. He scowled under that mask and flung open the curtains. This place needed light. He took a step back and locked the door behind him. He didn't need people finding out that Zero was in Lelouch's old room. Then... Something else caught his eye. Four books laid on his desk, with a small note. Slowly... Suzaku headed towards it. Maybe it was something worth using to tarnish Lelouch's name even more.

_To the reader: _

_Inside these four books. Contains the truth about Lelouch vi Britannia, Zero, The Demon Emperor, And Lelouch Lamperouge If you enjoy this world right now... Don't open it and read. The truth isn't always the best for the world. I suggest you burn these right after you read. Yes. This is my journal. _

Suzaku's eye widened, maybe... He should take a look. At least to Euphy's death. His gloved hands flipped the book open quickly. The pages... were covered in blood and tears. Tears they stained the page also everywhere. So the demon emperor did have half a heart. Blood? How would there be blood? Was it his? Or... E-euphy's..? He ponder for a bit before moving on. The past was the past. Suzaku look down at Lelouch's handwriting. It covered the page neatly and even from the obvious tears shed on this page, it was easy to read.

_I... Hate geass. Geass... The power of the kings? No. It is the power of demons. Will it bring you to a life of solitude? Yes. I hate this power, I hate myself for using this. I remember it. She had done it. Euphy had discovered Euphy's identity, something that millions of others have kept trying at and she done it. She did it. So I revealed myself to her... and we talked. Euphemia had convinced me to join her cause and I was planning to tell her about geass. I was. My explaining was only half-way done... When... I was only joking when I told Euphy to kill the Japanese. It was only a joke, and yet the geass activated. She fought it. I screamed for her to stop. I tired...But it didn't do anything. She grabbed a gun and opened fired. The massacre is my fault... I hate myself. So let my blood follow hers in death. But still, in the end. I shot her. I killed my own sister... And then... Used her death to my own plan. Japan hates Britannia. Japan will rebel. So everything is fine. Right? How...? I don't know. The only one left in the Britannia family other than Nunnally that I truly loved. But, she would have rather died than follow my command. An accident... Has destroyed my sister. For the gentler world, the Nunnally's and Euphy's dream. I will fight. I will continue on my path. Because the only ones who should kill are those prepared to be killed. _

Suzaku sucked in a breath. Lies. This book was a lie. It... It... Wasn't an accident! Lelouch used it to his own cause. Even still, he had still shot Euphy so the fact remains. Lelouch was a demon. Lelouch was a horrible person. Lelouch doesn't deserve happiness. He refused to believe that he lost his one true love to an accident. He refused to believe Lelouch was a good person, better than him. It wasn't impossible. Even... if it was... Lelouch had still killed Shirley, and Rolo. So he drew in a breath to stop his tears and kept reading.

_Suzaku Kururugi. My worst enemy. My best friend. He betrayed me. To my father. The bastard. The traitor. The IDIOT. How could he? So I swear it. I will make Suzaku suffer a punishment worse then death. Let him believe that I murdered his precious Euphemia. Let him believe it was out of cold blood. He's never searched under the surface anyways. He was always the one to jump to conclusions. I remember the scene well. Kallen didn't bother to help me. Some Q-1. I shot and missed. Suzaku captured me. Dragged me before the emperor, and then he himself became a dog of the empire. The knight of seven. He's everything I stand against. I will destroy him. I promise. Today is the day Zero returned and the man of miracles is bringing Japan to freedom and Britannia to it's downfall. The world saw Zero's power at the Babylon tower today. Not to mention my little brother is a fake. No one remembers Nunnally. My dear sister is gone...This is all Suzaku's fault...  
_

He stared at the two pages in shook. This... was Lelouch's true feelings. What was behind that mask. This... Was the truth, why? Because he saw his hatred for Suzaku in these pages. This was the truth that Lelouch hid so well, but does that mean... Euphy... No..! This...! It's all Lelouch's fault! All of it. His frame shook with frustration. Why hadn't Lelouch ever told him? No. No. Lelouch hated him. No. NO. NO. The thought hit him like a brick, "HE'S BEEN PLANNING THIS... He..." His voice grew quiet and the pieces fit in place, "He... Made it easy... For... me. That's why... He never told me..." His voice cracked. He just read on. This was the past... He couldn't change it now. The page was once again covered in blood and tears. This was Shirley's death.

_She's gone. One of the most innocent people. Ever. My friend Shirley. Someone... who I would never want to live without. Killed... By... Rolo. ROLO. He'll pay for his crimes. I don't even want to look him in the eyes. He's an unnatural killer. He's a monster. How dare he ever think that he could replace Nunnally? Shirley. Shirley. Shirley. I took the life of her father and now... I took hers as well. Even though Rolo... It's my fault. I should have protected her better, I should have talked to her and made her understand. I should have stopped Zero just to save her. I should have been there for her! EVERY TIME... And now she's gone. I should have done something to stop this. Something. These... deaths are all my fault. All of them. I cannot dump the blame on someone else when I am the obvious sinner. Euphy and Shirley... The both of them... I... Don't want to go on. I don't want to take this power of geass anymore. But I will. Suzaku believes it's me. Let him. It is after all. Her death is on my hands. I shouldn't have brought Rolo. I shouldn't have even... My dear friend Shirley. For her the gentler world will come true.  
_

He flipped the page. This was after Lelouch became emperor. Suzaku was biting back the horrible feeling in his gut. That Lelouch was a good person.

_It worked. My plan is almost complete. The world will be at peace soon. I believe it. All the people that gave their lives... I will soon join them. Suzaku will kill me and live. Rolo... My brother. I guess it's only now I've discovered how much you cared and how much I miss you. I miss you, and will join you soon. I'm crying as I write this. For the tenth time this month. My diaries are covered in my blood and tears. Blood from... Nevermind. Today, I've finally done something that I haven't been able to do for months. I have brought Suzaku Kururugi to my side. I actually do miss being with him. But together we can do anything. He's my knight now. Since I have taken over Britannia. Yes. This was the plan. The world's hate will focus on me and then they will be able to move on. It's not like I deserve anything more. The fate I have given myself is well deserved. Oh. Yes. I am the emperor. The 99th emperor of Britannia. Soon to be called the demon emperor. It... feels so weird. Having Suzaku as my knight is... So. Weird. It sounds strange from me, but having him kneel before me...? We're equals. That I know. It's strange. Gosh. I have changed.. Become soft? Probably. Caring for the person that sold me out? That's not like the demon emperor. Not at all. I've also done something I've been waiting my whole life for. I have finally killed the man that caused my sister so much pain. Charles zi Britannia is dead. I have killed him. The one thing I've been planning since my travels to Japan has finally come true. I've waited eight years for this and it has finally been achieved. Still. Their sorry lives are not worth the one of my dear brother. C.C and Suzaku bear witness to my great deed. My mother joined him, she joined the bastard. And I have discovered she is no better. May the two of them be in forever pain. __I feel so calm writing this. I have no idea why. But it is. I am.  
_

Suzaku hurled the book across the room, "LIAR! THAT'S ALL YOU EVER DO, IS LIE! LELOUCH...! YOU LIED TO ME. I..." He stopped to pant. Lelouch was a hero. No. He wasn't he was a horrible person. No. Lelouch was a good person. No... He was a demon. Why...? He didn't he tell him? Then... maybe he would have helped Lelouch come up with a different way to end things. "Thank you." He whispered. "Lelouch, my best friend. I thank you. For doing this for me. For Euphy. For Nunnally. I'll... never be able to forgive you, but... I miss you." The tears poured out. He had... Lelouch... Euphy... Nunnally... He needed to clear Lelouch's name. After he finished reading all of Lelouch's writing of course. Suzaku slowly bent over and picked up the book to keep reading. He read all of the four book that were jammed with Lelouch's feelings and his emotions. Rolo's death. Him becoming emperor. Suzaku fighting him. Gino. Kallen. Nunnally. Cornelia. Anya. Jeremiah. Everyone was in his books. Lelouch wrote about his feelings for each person in the second book, in the third contained his before exiled and his years before geass, and the last book was about the other events. Other events that Lelouch had written about. Mostly happy things in the last one. Suzaku sat on the dusty bed and read then again and again. His was the demon's books. Suzaku bit his lip. All of a sudden he disliked cursing Lelouch's name after knowing all the pain his friend went through. Then he promised himself something, Lelouch vi Britannia's name would be cleared, Cornelia, Ohgi, Kallen, Todoh, Gino, Anya, and the rest of them, they would all know Lelouch's true nature. How he, alone shouldered the blame of the world.

Suzaku stared at the book was sighed softly, in a couple hours his view on Lelouch had completely changed. Thee came to the last paragraph. The last one.

_That is the story of Lelouch vi Britannia and his other masks. So. Dear reader. Lelouch indeed found a punishment worse than death. As you have learned about geass... Lelouch now has a code. Which will provide him with the punishment Suzaku Kururugi believed he deserved. Pain. Pain and more pain. Would you like to meet him for yourself and find out? The blue card is your first clue. Ten more will follow and Lelouch is laid to suffer at the last card. Why eleven? Because Lelouch was the 11th prince. Do not save him. He'll kill him for not burning these books like he asked. _

_The immortal witch. _

Suzaku's jaw dropped, no. It wasn't possible. Had he made Lelouch torture himself...? No? Yes? He had to find his friend and hear the answers from his mouth. Why not play C.C's game? The world was a peace and Nunnally would jump at the chance to find her brother. Suzaku needed to talk with the demon emperor. A man to man talk. Lelouch couldn't just trick any everyone and get away with it. The knight was already planning his lecture about Lelouch's behaviors.


	2. Chapter 2

Suzaku picked his pace up to a sprint as he dashed towards Nunnally's room. He couldn't stop crying. His gloves hands tightened around the leather books and he bit his lip. Why... Was... Everything a lie? Lelouch had lied to everyone. He ran down the hall and burst into Nunnally's room without knocking or announcing himself. He locked the door and wrenched off the helmet to relieve his red eyes from crying and messy brown hair which he hadn't combed in days. Nunnally jumped a bit with a start. The 100th empress knew long ago who Zero really was. So the two often talked and chatted.

"Suzaku? Are you alright? Your crying. Did something happen?" She sat on her kind sized bed with a book in her hands. Her eyes traveled to Suzaku's unmasked face and panicked eyes. Whatever happened must have been horrible if Suzaku was crying and came to her without a single knock. He was usually very very formal and disliked taking the Zero helmet off. For these past three years, he had only called her Nunnally when the two were alone and never broke the mask even with Gino or Anya. Since Lelouch's death, he seemed to be out to prove that he could be a better Zero. It was very strange and sometimes she felt upset. Even when her brother was dead... Suzaku still held his hatred. Which was ironic because that's what Lelouch was aiming for right?

"Lelouch... He..." Unable to say anything else he simply held the books to her and passed her the greeting card. He dropped down next to her and sighed, trying to wipe away the tears in his eyes. The soft bed welcomed him happily after yelling at Lelouch. His voice was hoarse and aching with light pain. Suzaku hated looking like such a horrid mess, but because this topic was so serious, looking nice could go to hell. The helmet was left to lay on the floor and he glared at it. That stupid, horrid, helmet. He gritted his teeth and waited for Nunnally to respond.

Upon reading the title, Nunnally frowned, "Is this a joke?" Her hand traced over the cover of the first worn out book. The letters were faded away that read _Lamperouge, Lelouch. _She bit her lip lightly and frowned. The book claimed to be her brother's journal. Something that she knew existed, but never believed he would actually keep and not destroy.

"No... This was in his room." He looked away. It wasn't the best reason for why he discovered the book. Looking for something of Lelouch's burn and then came upon something that changed his way of thinking forever. He couldn't tell Nunnally that. She would be more upset with him then she was when he had killed her brother.

"Why would you be in there?" She snapped. Yes. Three years had passed and she had become more like her brother than ever. She was smart, good at leading, and had the interest of her people first. She was so very much like Lelouch. A true Vi Britannia. Before it bothered Suzaku to see Lelouch in Nunnally, but now he was proud. She was a wonderful leader and a manipulator as well. Nunnally touched one of the books before nodding, "These are real. By the look on your face. I guess you've read them...?"

He nodded, "I have. Did you not want me to? And... I was in Lelouch's room because I was looking for something." Suzaku's eyes couldn't meet her as he lied.

"No. But... You seen very very troubled." She had caught the flinch and decided to ignore it. Dealing with Suzaku later wouldn't be a problem. She could almost always tell what he was feeling. He never hid his emotions as Lelouch did.

Suzaku sighed loudly, "Yeah... I am... Lelouch well... I hated him. I hated your brother. For taking Euphy and for destroying my life, but then... This book changed my view. Nunnally if you want to read it... Be strong." He looked away and tucked the blue card into his pocket. He would mention it later. he saw her nod and so the reading began. Suzaku sat down on the edge of Nunnally's bed and hugged her tightly.

The first tears appeared when she saw the blood marks on the page, "He... Did It." She mumbled in a light voice. There was a mixture of fear and horror.

"Did what?" Suzaku stared at the blood on the page. How come he didn't know what this was? Was it that he really didn't understand Lelouch at all? We're they really not best friends? No. Of course they weren't. He had tried to him kill. Lelouch been after his life. He was the one that broke the friendship. No. He was lying to himself again. It was his fault.

Nunnally bit her lip. "Refrain." Her eyes kept reading and reading. A pang of hurt filled her heart. So Lelouch never told her because he also wanted her to hate him. That was the final goal and he achieved it very well. So that his death would be easier for them all. From the very beginning Lelouch knew that he would not be able to see the world he wanted to create. The only ones who should kill are those prepared to be killed; her brother's famous words, not including the obey me world thing. The book was like a tragic story. Almost a fantasy of a hero who gave his life for a better world. And it was for Nunnally he did it.

Yet, in the beginning he didn't believe she was strong enough to handle this. That Nunnally would have held him back from being Zero, so he lied. Even to her. But, there was truth to his words. If he had told her, she would have done everything the diary predicted. Indeed, she could have called him a monster, a killer, a murder, everything that he said she would have. It was surprising that her brother knew her better than herself sometimes. Euphy. Cornelia. Clovis. Their father. Mother. Everyone appeared in Lelouch's book. Each of them took at least a chapter and Nunnally finally understood. She understood what Lelouch's thinking was like and how he felt. This was real and really just how amazing her brother was.

Suzaku sat in shock over that piece of news. It wasn't possible. Was it? Someone as strong as Lelouch doing that? he never noticed. Not in class. The room was in silence of the rest. "Nunnally... About geass..."

Suddenly anger flooded up inside of her, "What about geass?" She snapped angrily. Suzaku. That idiot that gave her brother up to their father. The traitor to amazing brother. If he had teamed up with Lelouch and appreciated when he saved his worthless life, than things would have gone differently. It was his fault that Lelouch was dead, he had killed him. Stabbed him through the heart with no regrets. He didn't stop Lelouch.

He winced at the cold look in her eyes. Suzaku lightly bowed his head, "Lelouch is alive, but he's asked us not to go find him. I'm unsure of if I should play C.C's game." He mumbled lightly did not meet her eyes.

Her eyes flickered with surprise before sighing, "Suzaku. Are you joking?! I saw you stab him through the back! I SAW YOU MURDER MY BROTHER." She screamed. "You expect me to believe that he could survive that? What kind of world do you live in? THIS." Nunnally's arm gestured to the book. "Is all your fault. My brother is gone because of YOU. You selfish bastard! Who the hell do you think you are?" Her voice dripped with cold venom. Nunnally's eyes narrowed into slits as she glared daggers at the new Zero. He promised that he would never lie to her. He promised and Suzaku kept her from this. This was all his fault.

Suzaku flinched and frowned, "I never... I'm sorry Nunnally. I really am. But your brother is alive. He has a code. Would you like me to find him and bring him back? But I should mention that he said not to." Her words stabbed into his heart like a knife. Yet, they were true. The truth behind them was what hurt so bad.

Nunnally let the shock show on her face. A code. The thing that C2 had. It made the holder immortal. Why did Lelouch have one? She knew about the geass power but no one ever know her about Lelouch having a code. Figures, no one ever told her anything. It was always, 'Oh. Nunnally, don't worry about it.' She was honestly sick of being treated like a child. "How does he have one?" She looked at Suzaku with honest worry in her eyes and maybe a hint of anger. Though her thoughts were still mainly focused on the code problem. If Lelouch did have one, that would be a worse punishment than death for her brother. Never being able to die and having to live with the torturous memories.

"Your father had one. In C's world and Lelouch ruined their plan. He chose the future instead of the past, but the price was the life of your mother and father. Lelouch, by theory, got his code from his father when he killed him. Oh. Charles got his code from V2." That was one of the memories that didn't cause him much pain. At that moment he teamed up with Lelouch to bring peace to the world because together they could do anything. He took in a breath, if only he had... If only. He had joined him early.

Nunnally decided to learn about that more later. Now wasn't the time. If Lelouch was alive... She had to find him and yet it might cause many problems, especially how the whole world hated 'the demon emperor'. But she couldn't leave Lelouch. That would not be possible for her to live on knowing her brother was alive. She had to know whether he was save or not and if he was in pain.

Her eyes flickered to the mirror and she frowned. The world was a better place because of her brother correct? But... He... He was doing it for her right? Lelouch was always leaving his happiness behind for her. Since the moment she was born, Lelouch was looking out for her. Did she drive him to do that? What is her wish for a better world that made her brother... Do this? Nunnally felt a pang of self hatred and her voice quickly softened. "But... Suzaku... It's our fault right? Why Lelouch is gone...?" Her eyes dimmed a bit. It wasn't right to blame this all on Suzaku.

It was her fault as much as Suzaku's. Lelouch was gone because of her. Those words she had called him. Demon, monster, evil, every single one must have hurt him more than any physical injury. What kind of a sister was she? Leaving her brother when he needed her most! Her hands clutched the books tightly so hard that her knuckles were turning a scary shade of white. The tears she tried so hard to stop kept flowing down.

"No. It's not. Lelouch did this for everyone. It wasn't your fault at all... It was no one's, but I honestly believe Lelouch is still out there. Your majesty, would like like me to bring him back while you tell the inner circle about Lelouch? If we do find him, it would impossible for him to stay health and alive if we do not." Suzaku smiled slightly and wiped away a tear from Nunnally's face. "And don't forget. He loved you. That's why he did this... Understand? He loved you and Euphy." He almost choked on her name but kept going, "And Cornelia and Kallen and C2. He did this for them as well. Nunnally don't blame yourself..." He could tell that Nunnally was confused. This was hard for him to believe as well. Suzaku reached out a slow hand and pried her fingers off the book.

At once, in those couple minutes, she felt different emotions of all kinds: Self anger, sadness, pity, disappointment, fury. "Suzaku... I'm sorry for yelling at you... I was upset, but yes. We should tell the others and you should try to find Lelouch. Remind me... How will you?" She had to cling on to this little hope of seeing her brother again. The last way she could listen to him or see him talk. The thought of Lelouch sitting in the garden with her again brought a little smile to her lips.

"Oh. I forgot to mention. C2 left a card. This card will lead us to another one, until we find all eleven. At the last card, Lelouch would be there. That's what it says, I don't think she would have any reason to lie... It seems pretty reasonable and will be faster then tracking down that witch. She could be anywhere." Suzaku pulled out the card and showed it to Nunnally, who smirked lightly.

"The first one is easy. The answer is Jeremiah's orange farm. That's why the card say's soda and fruit. Leave as soon as possible. Bring a phone in case you need help with the puzzle or anything. We also might need Zero back here, so be ready to return. The world peace is our top priority. Lelouch is second to that." She smiled and stared at the card for a second. It was six inches wide and four inches tall. The color of it was blue. Nunnlly returned it to Suzaku and watched as Suzaku nodded and left.

Suzaku stuck on the Zero helmet and called the hangers to prepare a helicopter. Because Nunnally ordered him to, and because he had a debt to repay, even if it was going to be the last thing he would ever do, Suzaku was going to find Lelouch. He was also going to yell at him and call him names for being causing so much heartbreak for himself and Nunnally.

Nunnally just opened the books once more and read them from beginning to end. These four books of truth and those little blue cards may be the key to finding Lelouch once more.

((AN: Stufffff happened in my life. You see, I wrote a thing with 2,000 words and then I thought it wasn't well written so I started over and that's why this took such a loooong time. I say sorry. ;-; And for other things if you didn't like it. There are a couple things I wasn't so sure about. AKA THE WHOLE THING. But whatever. In the future, I plan to have Suzaku's POV and then Nunnally POV explaining to the other people what Lelouch was trying to do. There is no ship in this story. It's just simply what I believe the characters what have felt and then my own little plot with the blue cards and poop. Byyyyyyyyye))


	3. Chapter 3

Suzaku's eyes flickered down below to the trees growing in endless amounts. Green painted the hills and the sky was a beautiful blue. Another thanks that he owed Lelouch. Before his 'death' or whatever. The emperor had geassed three people to keep Suzaku's secret and therefore allowing one of them to pilot him in a plane here without bringing unwanted attention. The engines propelled them forward and in a matter of minutes, they had arrived in the closest airport to Jeremiah's orange farm. Suzaku had to get him credit. Even though Lelouch died, he still kept the memory of his master by creating an orange farm.

Upon exiting the plane, Suzaku frowned lightly hoping that no one would be able to see through his disguise. At the current time, he had baseball cap on hiding his hair, dark sunglasses, light blue jeans, a yellow t-shirt, and a blue jacket. It covered most of his recognizable features, but the only problem was that it was damn hot. It was like traveling through the desert. He whistled and, hailed a cab. A yellow car sped his way with a dark haired girl with blue eyes as the driver. "Three dollars a mile." She stated with boredom.

Not at all caring about the money, he slid into the seat and sighed, "The orange farm to the west please. I have as much money as you want, just pick up the pace." In twenty minutes, they had arrived at the place. He handed the driver the money and quickly exited. The orange trees were rounded off by a white fence. While the plants themselves had beautiful green leaves with fruit blossoming of the trees. A flash of bubble gum hair caught his eye. "ANYA-" He caught her attention, but instead of coming towards him, she dashed off. "H-hey!" Not bothering with he disguise any more, since there was little to no one here, he pushed himself over the fence and dashed after her avoiding the trees. Gaining on the girl, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop. "Hey! Anya! Where's Jeremiah?"

She tried to pull away before sighed and turning in obvious distant to see him. He wondered why, honestly, it hurt to see one of this friends treat him like a stranger. What was this? Suzaku Kururugi vs. The world? "Zero. Why are you here?" She said in her usual bored tone. Zero. He flinched at that. After her memory mishap and the battle, Jeremiah had decided to take her in as his child/daughter because she once held Marianna's soul. She was also one of the few people that knew about the Zero Requiem.

"Did you know about... The cards?" His eyes flickered with hope. This would be easier than he thought if these blue cards that C2 left behind were easy to find... But then... What this was all fake? A prank that some idiot put together? What if there really was no way to find Lelouch and save him from the past? Suzaku frowned and impatiently asked again, "Anya. Recognize this?" He flipped the card out from his pocket and showed it to her before quickly tucking it away.

Her eyes flashed, "Come with me." The pair traveled for ten minutes or so before coming upon a white house. The place seemed to have two floors and a nice porch. Anya led him up the five steps and into the place without knocking. This was clearly Jeremiah and her own home. "ORANGE." She hollered loudly and dashed away leaving Suzaku to stand awkwardly there. In this place, from what he could see, it was in a dine in kitchen that was connected to the living room by a hall. There was a classic television and a unlit fireplace with pictures standing proudly on the edge. Not a single light was on thanks to the brilliant sun light pouring in from the outside.

"Anya. Are you done with-" He stopped he saw Suzaku, "Why are you here?" Jeremiah asked with curiosity. For a second Suzaku was glad that Orange didn't seem to hold a grudge against him like Nunnally. Prephas, it was thanks to the fact that the man obeyed everything Lelouch said and his former friend seemed happy for Suzaku to drive a sword through his chest.

"Sir." He said polity and noticed that his geass canceller was still on his eye. "I've found something strange and it led me here. In Lelouch's room, I found a blue card telling me that you had the next one in the set. May I see it? My intentions are not harmful towards the 99th emperor. I simply want to discuss some things with him and then he may do whatever he wished with his life."

His response was quick and short, as if he had rehearsed this scene over and over before, "What things? And why so sudden? Three years have gone by without trouble... Hasn't C2 or his majesty warned you that sometimes the truth is better left undiscovered. I think that applies to you Kururugi." Jeremiah reached for the card Suzaku had now taken from his pocket and scanned it over. "While I know it is real, I don't believe he would enjoy having you bother him." He said flatly.

"I understand that. But there are things I have to set right. I can defeat the consequences or such things like that. Nunnally and the others deserve the truth. They deserve to know what Lelouch did... good and bad." Suzaku sighed and met his eyes. Not just them, but himself as well. Lelouch never told the truth and now he wanted it. No matter what. Even if it meant stealing the card from Orange.

"My final question. Why would you want to find him? Zero. Why would you want to ever speak to the man that stole your princess from you?" Of course he wanted to clear Lelouch's name as well. Did Suzaku even know how painful it was to hear your liege be insulted, over, and over, and over again? Horrid. It was horrid. He knew were the blue card was. He had placed it in a box and buried it under the first orange tree he planted. Of course he had a quickly way to locate it, but he needed to test Kururugi's determination somehow correct?

"Because. I read this dairy." He let the words sink into his soul and into Jeremiah. It was sad. He didn't even discover it because he believed in Lelouch. He found out because he was looking for hate, instead, he found the truth. Suzaku sighed slowly. "May I have the card?"

"Fine. The card. Is buried in a box under the first tree I planted here. Find it by the time night comes and it's yours. If you don't, I never want you in my land again." With those words he returned upstairs to finished whatever he was doing before. Probably not. He was going to watch Suzaku dig up dirt from his window and secretly hope that he would find the right one.

"Wait-" It was too late. He was gone. This would be bad. If he couldn't get the card... Then... Maybe he wouldn't be able to steal it. He would surely get caught digging at someone else's trees. Suzaku let out a sigh and traveled back outside to where Anya handed him a shovel. In return, he nodded gratefully to her and began to think it over. Well. The first tree should be the tallest right? Nope not always. Not if he planted the second a minute or day later. The first tree. He looked at what seemed to be a ocean of green trees growing from the ground. "The things I do for you Lelouch..." He groaned and dug around the closest trees to the house in a circle. Nothing. The sun was going to set soon. Time was running out. He had to do something fast, Suzaku dashed to the outside ring of the trees and began to dig faster. It had to be close. Somewhere. With every tree's soil flipped over and searched the sun dropped lower and lower into the sky. Letting out a train of curses he dashed back to the house. It seemed that a half an hour... The sun would be gone and he would have lost.

Then. The most amazing idea appeared in his head. Anya's photo book thingy. If she took a photo with that... He would be able to find it! Orange never said he couldn't. Perfect. He dashed right back into the house and into her room on the second floor. Ignoring Jeremiah's complains about him getting mud on the floor, he dashed off. Flipping through the photos as fast as he could, he found it. Though, it wasn't the tree that he was interested in by the background. That was what would show him the placing of the damn tree. In the picture, Jeremiah was standing in shorts and a t-shirt next to the plant with a light smile on his face, then right after, Anya did a video recording and named it first tree. The tree was four trees away from the white fence and it seemed that the little dirt road was behind it. Twenty minutes. He raced over to that side of the fence and sighed loudly, before beginning to dig. There were only five plants that could fit the angle.

On the second to the tree, he hit something. A box. He quickly pushed the lid open and snatched the card out without even reading it. He had to bring this back to Orange. With only three minutes on the clock, he did it and legally as well. "I got it." Ignoring the buzzing of the bugs he shoved the card into his hands and sighed. "I did it." At the moment he decided something, Suzaku Kururugi, the knight of zero, Zero, knight of seven, Prime minister's son, and all those other things hated oranges. From the bottom of his heart. More accurate. Orange trees.

Jeremiah nodded impressed. "Good." So the boy was gaining brain cells. Hooray! Lelouch would be proud...ish. He handed Suzaku back the card and smiled. "You better head off to find the next card. The puzzles will get harder as you go. Understand?"

Suzaku nodded and scanned over the card.

_Beginning of friendship _

_Beginning of pain _

_Beginning of betrayal _

_It's all the same _

_Where the red string of fate  
_

_bounded two together_

_Even through death they will  
_

_never seperate_

What. The. Hell? Where was this? Was this card talking about C2 or Kallen? Or him? or Nunnally? Or Rolo? Or... Dammit. He had no idea. Night was setting and Jeremiah offered for him to stay the night. He gladly agreed and decided to sleep on it for tonight. Maybe his tired brain would come up with something tomorrow... Oh. Yeah. Before that, he returned Anya's video dairy thing to her. Oops. He had almost forgot about it.

(( Do you guys know? Hmmmm? Leave me a PM of where you think the next place Suzaku needs to get to is... And by the way. We will be having a person come in make Suzaku's mission almost impossible. So those are things to look forward to! I have to say sorry that this is so short and strange. I must admit that this isn't my best piece. Oh! and I got 40 followers on this! That's amazing! Review of any kind push me to write more so leave one below will ya?))


	4. Chapter 4

He woke to his pure white pillows covered in tears. Suzaku slowly pushed himself up before glancing at his pillow and frowning. Had he been crying? Slowly bring a hand to his head and wiping away the liquid, he released a slow sigh. All... He could remember from the dream he had were screams. The screams of... Euphy, Lelouch, Nunnally, his father, everyone. They echoed in his head over and over with no stop. He couldn't remember what had led it to this. Anything before and after the screams were just a black screen to him. He took a deep breath and swung his legs out of bed. Everything was fine. It was just a dream. Nunnally was alright, Lelouch was probably safely hiding somewhere, Euphy and his father were looking down on the world with happiness. That dream or the screams were not real. He assured himself one more time before gazing out of the window.

Outside, the sun had hit the horizon in a way like no other. Purple, orange, red colors stained the clouds in a blended array of colors. Even without looking at the clock he could tell that it was early in the morning. No past five or six o'clock. Birds in the orange orchard were already alive and singing. The fresh morning air slipped into his room from the open window. He sighed softly and padded over to his window to examine the place. Green mixed with small dots of orange from the trees. Then Anya stood with a hose, watering each tree with her expressionless emotion before moving on to the next. It was beautiful. Suzaku felt a pang of sadness. Why didn't Lelouch just stay with Orange? It would have been things a lot easier for him.

He walked over to a mirror to see that thin of layer of sweat covering his face. Maybe he should a take a shower. You know... Suzaku hadn't bathed for days. What if someone thought that Zero smelled bad? He chuckled to himself and headed to the bathroom. He stripped down to nothing before quickly stepping into the shower and turning on the water. A blast of cold water smashed into like a rock before the desired temperature finally arrived. The hot water felt amazing. What he wouldn't to give to have this luxury everyday. At the palace he was often so busy that dining and showering need to take a back seat. His job as Zero was more important.

Suzaku dumped shampoo into his hair and sighed loudly. He didn't really want to waste Jeremiah's water, so he skipped the conditioning part. Grabbing the towel, he dried his hair thoroughly and the rest of his body before slipping into his original clothes. He then traveled to the window once more. So many things had changed...

A loud shout interrupted his train of thought, "ZERO! COME DOWN HERE. I HAVE A LETTER FOR YOU!" He winced at the address. Honestly, Lelouch really hit him hard with the not being able to die thing, and forcing him to become the one person he hated the most. Whatever. Two cards down. Nine more to go, he was slowly getting closer to answers. Suzaku threw on a t-shirt he had borrowed and jogged downstairs. It would be weird to be seen in only his shorts. Especially if Anya was around.

Once downstairs, he took the letter from Orange's hand and frowned. On the blue envelope two cursive Cs were in the upper right hand corner. Oh. How obvious. Now he knew who it was from. Suzaku slowly teared at the paper and hoped that it wasn't horrible news. Upon opening it he discovered a white letter inside.

_My dear Kururugi, _

_I see you have taken up the challenge of finding Lelouch. And don't worry, I would never dream of making this easy for you. _

_I doubt this will make you forgive Lelouch and what he has done, instead it will fuel your hatred for him in every possible way. _

_The cards will only get harder and harder as the game progress. _

_And sometimes, the truth is better hidden..._

_One last thing, someone else is after the cards and books. _

_So you better quicken you pace. _

~_The Immortal Witch _

He almost dropped the letter. Okay, to be truthful, he understood that it would get harder and that the truth isn't always the best thing AND that this to C.C was only a game. Believe it or not, that piece of information benefited him. Knowing that it was game, he could assume that Lelouch wasn't in horrible, horrible, horrible danger. It was same to say that the book that told him that Lelouch was torturing himself was false. Plus, he knew Lelouch, he wouldn't bring pain upon himself for no reason. He wasn't that stupid.

Then there was that last piece. What the hell? Why would someone else be after the cards? There were obvious reasons. Someone wanted geass from him now that he had a code, someone wanted even further revenge, or someone was simply stopping him from discovering them. And then the books. The books were with Nunnally... Should he go back? No. He couldn't. That would leave him behind in the search for the cards. Maybe... If... "Lord Jeremiah, I was wondering if you would do me favor. I'm sure your aware of the journals that Lelouch kept... Well, someone seems to be after them, but they're with Nunnally. I don't want her to be hurt, and if I stop the search for the cards the competition would gain a front. In this position we must assume the worse, that this person is trying to find Lelouch for the power of geass."

He saw thought flicker over the man's face before he frowned, "No. I will not leave Anya, though I suggest you simply pick Cornelia or some other to guard her closely. Besides, I would be seen through like glass. If would quite strange to have one of master Lelouch's most loyal followers to be returning to serve her majesty." He stated flatly.

Dammit. And all this time he hoped he had gotten better at planning. Guessed not. If he failed to see something so obvious, it meant that he still couldn't compare with Lelouch. Suzaku then decided to blame it on the nightmare he had this night. He wasn't usually that bad. "Good point. I'll call Kallen later and tell just tell her that a threat has been made against Nunnally. That would leave me to search for the cards. Thank you for the night, Jeremiah. But I must go to find the next card. I'll be out once I grab my things." Suzaku dashed upstairs and shoved his things into a duffel bag before thanking him once more and running out to the road, once he exchanged farewells. There was one location he had in mind. Oh. But first he had to call Kallen.

* * *

The place he had in mind wasn't terribly far by foot. He made the phone call and walk for an hour or two more before arriving at the location. The Kururugi Shine. The place almost looked the same from the last time he had seen it. Expect from the slowly wearing paint.

He took a deep breath and stepped forwards. Memories flooded into him, this was his home. Minus the fact that half of the place was destroyed thanks to the war. This was where he grew up from the first minute of his life to the tenth year he lived. Then... He had returned a couple times. The most recent one was three years ago, with Lelouch. The scene played out in his head once more as he just sighed. There was no use wasting his time on a past that he couldn't change.

Instead he scanned over the place for anywhere that could hold a card. It was going to be impossible to find! There was no place to start. Something had to be around here that he could use. Beginning of friendship... Beginning of pain? He dashed to the old battered place that Lelouch and Nunally lived in before entering slowly. speaking truthfully, it wasn't even a house. It was more like a shack.

The thing was barely standing with it's old cracked wooden boards, and hole of all sizes poking in from the roof and sides. The only light source was the shattered window and the small openings from the wood. Furniture and shattered glass lay covering the floor under a layer of dust. The ladder to the upper floor was broken and it's parts laid across the ground. Honestly, he felt bad for Lelouch back then, moving from a fancy palace to a this old thing. It would have been hard for anyone. Suzaku sneezed before waving his hand in front of his face to clear away the dust.

His eyes flickered around before he turned to the place where he had punched Lelouch across the face. It would be a lie to say that he didn't feel damn good about it. Back then and now as well, Lelouch was the definition of arrogant. He was always looking smug and never lost his cool. As a child, it always brought him to insanity. Suzaku sighed at the memory and knelt on ground. He let his hands slide over the tiles for a false panel. A couple moments passed before he stopped. Nothing.

He stood and dusted off his pants before continuing around the shine for anything that he could use. By the time had he circled back to the opening, the sun high in the sky. He had been searching for three hours. There was nothing. Suzaku released an anger sighed before frowning. There was nothing. He had flipped the place almost up and down to find a damn six inch card.

There was one place he hadn't looked yet... The most obvious hiding spot. Was it possible? Suzaku's eyes flickered to the sign. If he just walked right pass it. Assuming that the Witch was going to hid it somewhere strange and hard to find. He circled around it before frowning. Every thing was visible, but one... Little area.

Oh. He was going to murder C.C. Suzaku tensed before pushing off the pole that held the Kururugi Shrine sign up. Sure enough it was there. The little card the tucked there right out of view unless someone purposely looked for it. It had been there along. Fucking damn bitch. He just wasted three hours trying to get find the stupid thing. He turned everything in that shack inside out, turned over all the stones in the garden, explored the ruins of the houses, and it was here all along. A small part of him wished that Lelouch was here, he would have done things much better then him. What was he thinking? He didn't need Lelouch.

Suzaku frowned unhappily as his brain interrupted his train of thought by screamed out for food. It had been awhile since he had eaten anything... Maybe he should head out to a restaurant for some food. You know. A small break... But just for good measure, he read the card over first.

_Welcomed by the enemy _

_Claimed as a fortress _

_Where power was tested _

_Two rulers born  
_

It was short. Hooray. Less information... Dammit. But, of course he already had a place in mind. Where two rulers where born? That narrowed down his choices quite a bit and since C.C mentioned that she would make it impossible and heart wrenching for him, Suzaku was almost one hundred percent sure. Well. Off to lunch and then to find the fourth card. Eight left...

((AN: Hey guys, another chapter for you. I'm sorry about the lateness and maybe if this is OOC. I just believe that Suzaku was lighten up on Lelouch just a bit because of this. I know I written him as super serious, but that was mostly towards Lelouch. If you find anything that could use improvements send me a review and I'll be sure to note it in the next chapter. Sorry that I'm a slow writer and that this is short ;-; It's sort hard to get these out with a lot of writing.

Any guess for the next card?))


	5. Chapter 5

Suzaku pulled out his sunglasses from his bag and placed them on. Part of him was debating whether he wanted to dye his hair a different color to avoid attention. Or maybe get contacts… He sighed and continued down the road. First he would head to a inn or hotel, then he could finally get something to eat. The cards could wait for an hour or two, he was dead tired. The nightmares kept him from getting a good amount of sleep, he'd skipped more than a day worth of food, and his brain was closed to fried with all these stupid riddles. Why did the witch have to make everything a game? Oh. Yeah. And someone else was after the cards as well. Just great.

He entered a small town and smiled lightly. Breaking out into light jog, he headed towards a small inn. A beautiful grassy area surrounded it, with a garden and a pond as well. Of course, in the front was the parking lot and paved roads. He scanned the number of cars, it seemed that this place didn't have many customers. After dropping three hundred dollars for a week on the counter, Suzaku went to search for his room. It happened to be a quiet place near the back of the place. Swiping his card, he stepped into the place and released a breath.

It was nice. The bed was folded perfectly with fluffy pillows standing up against the backboard. The nightstand was on the right side with a green lamp and telephone on top. Suzaku poked his head into the bathroom and sighed. Everything was spotless, the white marble glistened when he flicked the lights on. In general, the place was larger than Jeremiah's bathroom. He slipped out of his shoes and placed them on the side. The entire floor was covered with a rug, which even ran under the crimson curtains. To the left of them was an air conditioner. Everything in here was just like a normal hotel, but… Why? Why did it feel like he was coming home?

Suzaku dropped his bag on the side of the bed before padding over to the mirror. Was he recognizable? It had been three years… Oh well. He liked it like this. Euphy had liked him like this… Pulling out the blue card from his pocket, he placed it on the nightstand. Placing his shoes back on, he headed outside once more in search of a place to eat. It was nice to see the world like this.

Children were playing on the streets, numbers and Britannians, while the adults were chatting away. Even the birds seemed to be more lively in this world. Everything seemed so innocent… He smiled and headed to a Japanese restaurant that he spotted from the corner of his eye. The blinking red sign that read 'Rising Sun'. From the outside, it just seemed like a regular restaurant. It had menus showing from the window as well as interesting Japanese toys sitting on the rim to attract customers.

He walked in and smiled lightly as a waiter escorted him to a seat. The decor was all Japanese as were the tables. Even the lights were only due to candles. It was like the Kururugi Shrine… But with more tables. Suzaku scanned over the menu quickly, "Rice Balls please?" He didn't really want a huge meal, instead he was planning to eat just enough to keep him going. Eating and ordering more than he needed would attract unwanted attention. "Thank you." He replied as the waiter nodded and headed to fetch his order.

A plate with five Rice Balls was placed in front of him as he muttered "thank you" once more. He raised the chopsticks and slowly began to eat. Lelouch use to make these… Just for him. It was back when he didn't know the truth about Zero. They almost taste as good as his old friend's. After finishing, he payed the bill before standing to return to his room. Truth be told, Suzaku wanted to hightail out of the restaurant the moment he entered it. The food, the place, everything, it brought up too many unwanted memories.

On the footstep of the hotel room he freezed as a noise came from inside the room. Suzaku's eyes darted to the surrounding area for any weapon. Sadly, there was nothing around him except for a doormat and a cell he kept on himself at all times. Not wasting another moment, he swiped his card and entered the room to find a terrible surprise.

A cloaked figure snatched the blue card upon his entrance and darted to the window. Panic filled him as he sprung into action."Wait!" He pushed himself after the person and grabbed him/her by the shoulders. The response was the person spinning around and kneeing him in the gut. Suzaku gritted his teeth as he resorted to violence. He hated doing this. The former knight threw a punch that connected with the person's rib as a loud crack echoed through the air. Yet, this opponent seemed unaffected as he/she proceeded to aim a punch on his face. At the last moment he dodged and sent the person flying with a roundhouse kick.

The figure fell limp against the door as Suzaku stalked over to it. At the last moment, the person pushed opened the door and dashed out. The black cloak was shoved in his face to prevent vision and to assist with the thief's escape. It took him approximately three seconds to whip the black fabric off, but by then it seemed that they had already vanished. "Dammit!" He swore loudly. They took the card! That person stole his last way to find Lelouch… His fist smashed against the wall as he released a long breath.

"The words… What were they?!" No. No. No. He didn't even remember the first words. How could he have lost this chance at the truth so fast? He had to find the person that stole the card. But.. He saw how they fought. It had been a minute they had run off, this would have given them more than enough time to run. Suzaku took a breath and connected his fist with the wall. "No! I don't remember!" There had to some other way! Some other way to find Lelouch…

His eyes flickered to the cloak. ID fingerprints…? Maybe? He could bring it to Lloyd and Cecile, but that would require calling Nunnally and setting up a time. It could be too late… What if the culprit could solve the puzzles faster than himself? No. This was his last chance, he couldn't doubt this plan. It was the only option he had. Suzaku grabbed his cell phone and dialed Nunnally's private number.

"Zero. How is your mission? Almost complete?" Suzaku sighed at her sweet voice. It was obvious that she changed. Nunnally had become a younger, kinder version of her brother. Still, he loved her. Not in a romantic way, simply like brother and sister.

"I need someone to do a fingerprint testing on a piece of fabric." Suzaku kept his voice flat. He didn't need Nunnally worrying about his job and how well it was going. No doubt she would be upset that he lost so easily. But, it was obvious whoever he was fighting had training. "I've ran into a slight problem."

"A problem…? What is it? Did something bad happen?" Oh. Here it comes. He couldn't avoid it. Suzaku gritted his teeth and frowned.

"Yes. Someone else is after the cards and they have stole the fourth one from me. I cannot continue without it." He said slowly. "Though, once given this information I should be able to find the culprit very quickly."

He heard a sigh from the other end of the line. "Come back then Suzaku. Then you will give me all the details and assist with breaking the news to the others. I'm sure they will want this information as well."

"But Nunnally, there is someone else after the cards. Every moment I waste is giving them more time."

He heard a moment of silence from the other side. "Suzaku, I'm sure you did a good amount of damage to them. Keep looking, I will send… Lloyd and Cecile to take back the cloak. You are not to show them your face. If they ask for identification the numbers are 67891." There was another pause, "Stay safe Suzaku. I don't want to lose you as well." The line went dead as Suzaku released a long breath.

The bet that Nunnally made was that the person was injured and that they didn't know Lelouch well enough. He sat down on the bed and sighed. His brown hair fell lightly over his eyes, "Lelouch… Why did you hide yourself?" It was a stupid question. Of course he knew the damn reason. If Suzaku spotted Lelouch anywhere he would have grabbed him and shoved him into one of those capsules. Now, it was strange. He didn't know what to feel. Could he believe he books? He obviously did when he first read them. But now that seed of doubt had planted itself into Suzaku's mind. What if Lelouch was lying again?

That was why he was here right? Because he wanted the truth from Lelouch's mouth. He wanted to know everything, from his first moments to the last. He deserved as much right? Right…? No. He didn't. They lied to each other.

Pushing himself to his feet, Suzaku headed out the door. Nunnally had given him orders. He had to look around for anyone suspicious. There was definitely a loud cracking sound that he had heard. Maybe two or three ribs? About twenty minutes had passed from the attack. There was obvious things he had to assume, it was young person. It wasn't possible for anyone older than the age of thirty five to match his level of skill. He had seem the height of culprit, she/he was about 165 cm. That was all the information he could use for now. Hopefully the fingerprint testing would provide some more information.

He could start with the hotel rooms, it was possible they were renting a room here. Suzaku headed to the main desk, flashed his badge, and ended up with all the inhabitants of the inn for a years worth. Sitting down at the side table, he shifted through them and looked for anyone that matched his idea of the person. No. No one. After releasing a sigh, he stood and headed to the train station.

Upon entering the place, he realized that it would be more or less impossible to find one person. Although the town wasn't large and the population was quite small, the station was like a sea of people. Most likely due to the fact that this was a convenient place to switch trains. So here he was in a crowd of people, trying to get list of all the people that rode the train this week. The pile of identities was larger than the four times the hotel's. Suzaku grumbled to himself as he shifted through the profiles. Hundreds upon hundreds were waiting for him on a circular cafe table. After checking all of them, there were twenty that matched his idea of the thief. He scribbled down the names and returned everything before heading back to his hotel room. Lloyd and Cecile would be coming soon.

Sure enough, ten minutes after he returned his old friend Lloyd came knocking on his door. "Hello~ Is anyone home? We're here on orders from Her Majesty! Open up!" It was down right lie to say he didn't miss their voices. They were the first family he had in years. When Suzaku first started piloting the Lancelot, it was best moments of his life. He had found Lelouch and Nunnally, there was somewhere he belong, and he was with the girl he loved more than anything.

"Lloyd! Don't do that! Her Majesty also said that we shouldn't bother her special soldier for this mission! Sorry about him. But, may we ask what the code is?" Suzaku eyes closed for a moment before grabbed the cloak. They would know the truth soon enough.

"The code is 67891." He said slowly and threw the cloak out the door quickly. No matter how much he wanted to show his face to Lloyd and Cecile, Suzaku knew he couldn't. From the voices, he could tell that the scientists had brought a trailer with them for quick testing. He slid down against the door and waited, trying desperately to block out the voices he knew so well. Curse Lelouch for screwing him like this.

The minutes ticked by quickly as he slumped against the door to wait. Suzaku's eyes finally closed when Lloyd banged on the door. "We finished! Since you obviously don't want us seeing your face. I'll give you the name and the files we found. Finding her might be a bit harder…"

A file was slid under the door and Suzaku's eyes automatically widened at the name. "Dammit…"

((The thief is not C.C. I'm sorry to say this, but it's my OC. Of course, this isn't a romance story and of course she's the antagonist. If that makes you guys feel better xD. I swear she's not a Mary-Sue, but I couldn't come up with a reason for her to be pure evil. But yeah. Message me if she seems like a Mary-Sue xD))


	6. Chapter 6

Raven Blackwood (Dead)

Nickname: Grim Reaper

Gender: Female

Age: 17

Occupation before death: Knight of Five

Personality: Cold, not sociable, believed in equality between Numbers and Britannians. Sometimes arrogant.

Knightmare name: Wither

Close allies: Knight of One and Princess Cornelia

Dealing with Geass: Yes.

Bio: Daughter of Duke Blackwood, and became the heir due to her older sister's death. She joined the Knights of the Round at age 16 and performed many successful missions. Because of her service, she was allowed information about Geass and Codes. Though, it was never recorded whether she had one or not. The Knight died during battle defending Charles vi Britannia's ships during a betrayal. The body and Knightmare were never found.(2018 a.t.b.)

Knightmare information: Wither

General information: Dark black and purple. Considerably small compared to others, but fast.

Generation: 7th

Primary weapon: Crossbow and scythe.

Piloting percentages average: 96%

Shooting accuracy: 95%

Number of successful missions: 45

Number of defeats: 1

(Details) Lost because of surprise attack against her forces. Twenty men lost.

Bio: A Knightmare was created just for the Knight of Five. Not extremely hard to pilot, all aces should be able to get at least 80%. The dark design was meant to be hard to spot at night, thus, the pilot disliked fighting in the daylight. Like any Knightmare, the Wither has slash harkens, two of them. Her long distance weapon is the cross bow, and close combat the scythe would be used. The shield the Wither uses, is not extremely high tech. Speed would be the Knightmare's main defence. Weakness are the long charge on her bow and the vulnerability.

Private forces: Ten men and ten women. All Britannian.

Age range: 19-34

Piloting percentage range: 82%-90%

Number of mission with Blackwood: 34

Alive:15

Details: Each of these people were hand picked up by the Knight of Five. Still, during exercises and practice, she would very often drive them to exhaustion. Sometimes, she would refuse them dinner or allow them to rest until every drill she planned was done. Though, minus her demand for training, her subordinates did not dislike her. Lastly, there has been times Raven would sacrifice herself to save a good soldier, but if the subordinate is "weak" or she generally does not find attachment to them, she will leave them to die. Ten people have died and been replaced in Raven's private forces.

* * *

Suzaku stared at the paper with wide eyes. He remembered Raven… And he hated her with a burning passion. There were two reasons, one was because she would drop her subordinates who trusted her and two, because she was arrogant. The girl was so damn sure of herself, no matter what situation. Even if Suzaku would crush in every aspect of military training, she would still hold herself a degree higher than everyone. She wasn't his least favorite Knight, but definitely hit the top three.

He look over the files again before frowning, he couldn't find the motive for this girl. Sure, if Lelouch had given her Geass that would be different story, but that wasn't possible. So, Raven knew about Geass, that doesn't mean she has one. If she did… Still. What would be the point of finding Lelouch? He knew his friend had a code, and he knew the Code didn't activate until the first time he died. Plus, he had to make a contract with her. And! Raven wasn't even close to Lelouch. How in the world would she know where the cards would be? But what if she did?

There were so many question and doubts. It's possible that they were framing Raven, or the machine is faulty. Suzaku accepted the possibility of the former Knight of Five being alive, but the other details were smugged. He groaned and grabbed the voice distorter he had brought along. Speaking quickly he asked Lloyd for a file on Raven's parents, Lelouch, Emperor Charles, V.V. and C.C. He needed every bit of information he could get. The files were quickly passed to him by the scientist who informed him that he would be staying for three more days if he needed help at all.

Suzaku took in a breath and asked slowly, "Run a retest please. I need to know this is her for sure. If there are any other fingerprints on it, I want it known…. And Lloyd… Miss. Cecile… Please stay safe." He didn't know Raven's exact limits on killing, but he refused to risk it. These people were innocent. This was his mission, Suzaku would not let others get hurt because of his stupid mistakes again. After seeing how easily the former Knight of Five left her soldiers, he trusted that she would do whatever it would take to win. If she didn't care about her allies, who said that she would care about civilians?

There was silence on the other side as Suzaku started flipping through the new files. There was nothing extremely new to him. Her personal file had given him a good amount of information. Raven hadn't been in contact with Lelouch at all, and it seemed that V.V. and C.C. hadn't given her a Geass. Nor had Charles ever gotten the chance to. As for her parents, Suzaku grimaced when he started to read the passage.

Died in the F.L.E.I.J.A bombing by the Knight of Seven: Suzaku Kururugi. Rose and Arthur Blackwood's relationship was good with their daughter, Raven. As for the older sibling, Elizabeth, tenses were high. Then when Elizabeth died, the Blackwoods gladly gave everything they owned to Raven.

Oh. Damn. Now he had an idea of what Raven was looking for. Revenge. Was she planning to hold Lelouch hostage against the empire? Or ruin their entire plan by showing the world that Lelouch was alive? Suzaku released a train of swears and he looked over the files again. The peace that had lasted three years would crumble in a matter of seconds. He had to find Raven and take the cards back. It would take her sometime to gather the rest of the cards. But… Right now… They had to work together. Suzaku snatched up the phone and called Nunnally. "Nunnally, this is important. We need to meet. Bring back the inner circle, they should know what we're doing, because… It would be better to tell the them now rather than later when… The cards can wait for a day or two. This is urgent," he said quickly into the phone, not wanting to reveal anything into an open line.

"Suzaku. Someone's taken the books as well. I understand your point, and I was planning to call you. We should give this information to those who know about Geass. As for the rest of the UFN members, knowing that my brother was alive is almost enough to send the entire world into a panic. I understand your concern of talking through the phone. Show Lloyd and Cecile, they will then bring you back and we will discuss this more in depth." Nunnally stated. Three years and she had changed. Instead of being the protected, she was now the protector. Her choices were made quick and swift, just like Lelouch. There was no weakness or doubt in her voice.

He let out a long sigh before frowning into the phone, "Yes… Your Majesty." Suzaku slowly closed the device and released a sigh. It happened so fast. Now, he was telling Lloyd and Cecile about this? That was what he wanted at one point… But now that the order came, he was extremely unsure about this all. In less than a week, his world had been spun upside down. Lelouch was alive, Lelouch didn't murder Euphy on purpose, there was a way to find Lelouch, they had to tell the others about Lelouch, someone was after the cards to find Lelouch. Why the hell does everything revolve around Lelouch? But then… Since when did everything not circle around Lelouch?

Suzaku took in a breath and glanced out the window to the stars. Wouldn't it be easier for the world to not have changed? If he hadn't picked up his journal, there wouldn't be someone else after Lelouch. At the same time, the books had warned him. Once again, he had to blame himself for the troubles. Suzaku stared at the outside world for quite a bit of time. The sky shown was a dark blue, the stars twinkled like diamonds, the sound of night critters echoed into his room from the open window. It was beautiful. Feeling absolutely exhausted about the mess that Raven had caused, he decided that explaining everything to the two scientist could wait until morning. Suzaku dragged himself to the white bed and gladly slipped into the covers.

* * *

In his new world, he stood in a beautiful endless meadow. Flowers bloomed happily from the ground, as every blade of the grass was a light green. Suzaku heard birds chirping their songs, as little animals scampered back and forth. The baby blue sky was covered with perfect puffy clouds. A cold, harsh voice broke the illusion of happiness for Suzaku, "Why are you here?" He recognized the man the moment the first word was said. Even though three years had passed, there was no way he ever forget. How could he forget? The soldier spun around to see his former emperor in his regular school uniform. Lelouch. "Suzaku. Why are you here?" He spoke again with the same cold heartedness.

"Lelouch. Where are we?" Questions for him spun in his head, but those were the only words he managed to say. Three years. Three years since he heard that voice. It still held the pain, the hatred, the anger, and unnatural calmness. Suzaku stared into his friend's eyes painfully. This was a dream? Right? Then why did it feel real? Why was it like that he was once again talking with his old friend? "Answer me!" He yelled and took a step closer to Lelouch. Nothing seemed to have changed, neither one of them had any patience for the other. He saw Lelouch turn away from him, before looking back with Geass flaring in his eyes as well as the sign on his neck. It placed itself where Charles had last touched him.

Lelouch continued on his path away from him and refusing to let him go, Suzaku dashed after him. Though, no matter how fast he tried to run, Lelouch was always a step ahead of him. It was like he was running in place. Soon enough, he was no longer there. "Lelouch!" The knight yelled again into the air. "Lelouch!" He screamed again. "Come back!" He was met with silence, as the world suddenly twisted from the meadow of flowers to a prison.

Two figures appeared: one the Knight of Seven, and the other Zero, except in the white straight jacket.

_"Why?! You killed your own sister and brother! Does that mean nothing to you? You destroyed what little trust in Japan had in Britannia. This was their chance for an equal society! This was their chance at a better life? Why the hell is wrong with you? Thousands of people were murdered! Thousands of people died because of your own selfish needs. Don't you feel guilty? How do you live with yourself knowing that those innocent people died because of your damn pride? Lelouch. You're not even human. You're a monster. " Silence. The pair stood in a white jail with Suzaku panting down at Lelouch. His former friend refused to talk as he slammed his foot into his rib cage. A crack echoed throughout the room, Lelouch sucked in a breath of air and gritted his teeth together. "Fine. I'll get my answers." Suzaku left for a minute just to return with a shot of refrain._

_Upon seeing the drug, Lelouch started struggling. Suzaku forcefully pinned him down and pressed a shot into his arm. Immediately, the purple eyed boy's Geass flared as he fought the refrain. "Lelouch. You're going to answer my questions." He said coolly as the other boy continued to squirm and reject the refrain. But Lelouch was still human. Even though he had that wretched power, Lelouch was still human. "Why did you kill Euphemia?" Suzaku held the shot loosely in one hand as he looked down at him. All he wanted were answers. All he wanted was to know that Lelouch didn't really want to do it. All he wanted was for this to be a bad dream._

_Thirty seconds passed, before Lelouch finally relaxed due the drug. With his right eye burning with Geass, he looked up. Instead of an answer, Lelouch just laughed. Zero laughed a cold, broken, empty laugh. "Are you stupid? I did it because she was a thorn in my plans. Why else? If I didn't command Euphemia to kill the Japanese, then the Black Knights would lose support. I can't have such a stupid little girl stopping my plans." Rage swelled within Suzaku as he kicked his friend again. The refrain had given him answers. Lelouch was a monster._

He winced as the memory returned to him. Suzaku stood and watched as the rest of it played out before his eyes. Though now, he caught what had really happened. Lelouch simply stopped moving, thus giving the illusion that refrain had worked. But it didn't. He had fought the drug and forced out a swift answer for him to believe. Then allowing the hallucination and weakness stage to come later. Now there was another question. Why? Why would Lelouch do that? There was no way he saw the future to the point that he knew the Black Knights would betray him and he would take the throne. Then why? Lelouch lied to him.

"You see? Do you think he'll want to see you again? Do you think Lelouch wants to see anyone? He didn't forgive his mother, then would he forgive you or Kallen?" A different voice spoke. The voice of a witch. Suzaku's eyes darted around as the dream's scene changed again to a white world. There was nothing, except for him. Alone. C2 spoke again, "Lelouch has experienced every death he caused to an even greater pain amount. Would you like to feel it?" He didn't have the chance to answer before the air disappeared. Suzaku immediately doubled over and dropped to his knees gripping at his throat. Pain exploded in his lungs as he tried to suck in air. Three minutes of this lasted before his life was finally ended, before it started all over again. And again. He had died four times before C2 finally spoke again and the air returned, "So. Suzaku, would you want to see someone who drove you to this?"

That was the last thing he heard before his awoke once more to the cold harsh reality. Three places. Three scenes. All about Lelouch. He felt emotions of flood through him quickly. Still. It was just a dream… Just a dream…

* * *

**AN: Here's another chapter for you all! **

**I was wondering if you could check out my friend and I's new fanfiction "The Female Heir" It's a Luluko centric story. She's basically still a princess, and the first to the throne. Being sixteen years old and a girl, not many people support her. To prove them wrong, she cuts her hair short and enters Ashford, an all boys school. As if things couldn't get worse, she get stuck with Gino and Suzaku for roommates. I swear it's written well since my friend helped. XD I would mean the world to me if you read it and left a quickly review on how we did. Thanks so much for supporting this fanfiction, I mean 75 follows!? I would have never thought in my life. **

**Leave a review if you want another chapter soon! They fuel me to write :3  
**


	7. Chapter 7

Suzaku pushed himself up from his place on the bed and sighed deeply at the still pitch black room. If Lelouch rejected him… then what was the point of all of this? If he couldn't get the answers and truth he wanted, then why was he working so hard for a fruitless goal? But that was a dream, wasn't it? So it was still possible that Lelouch would be willing to talk to him! What if Suzaku saved him and then Lelouch sought revenge again? Then it would have been better if he hadn't discovered those books in the first place. Having a code meant that Lelouch could create contracts, as many as he wanted. Freaking... Dealing with one person with an absolute obedience geass was enough, now if there were ten of them and they were being commanded by Lelouch. Suzaku shuddered at the thought. Maybe it was better to let things stay the way they were now… He didn't need his answers that bad.

Swinging his legs off the bed, he sighed again. He had to though. Raven was out there, threatening their peace. It wasn't about him and his desires, it was about stopping that girl from ruining what fragile bandage the world had finally received. A hate that he knew all too well filled his heart again. Damn that arrogant girl. Surely, if she looked for it, she could be happy as well. Why? Why was she intent on making others miserable because she was as well? Hadn't she learned from anything that happened in these past years?! Revenge doesn't bring happiness. Happiness is the eye of the beholder. Raven could be happy if she allowed herself to be. Then this problem wouldn't be happening! Smashing a fist into the fluffy bed covers, he scowled into the darkness.

The first step was bring everyone onto the same page, but he and Nunnally had to tread carefully. One false move and the world could be split in half once more. He could think of more than one person involved in the inner circle that would hate the idea of searching for Lelouch. Actually, strike that. Everyone would be against the idea, from Gino to Todoh. There was no other option but to tell them. If he keep it a secret he would end up like Lelouch when the Black Knights betrayed him. He had to make the bet that some of them still cared about Lelouch… Cornelia, Kallen, and the others, they had to still have a place in their hearts for Lelouch right? Or… Well he could simply say that once they stopped Raven, Lelouch would be shoved back into that coffin. He couldn't do that, no way. Even after discovering Lelouch was Zero, and after his reappearance a year after, he tried so hard to believe that innocent child he once knew at the Kururugi shine was still in there. Believe it not, in those days after the final battle had been won… Suzaku discovered that he was. After helping Lelouch, he couldn't just throw him back into that place of pain.

Pushing himself to his feet, Suzaku sighed. Lloyd and Cecile would be willing to listen to logic, and Kallen had figured it out awhile ago. Jeremiah and Anya definitely knew what had happened in the past by now. Though, he couldn't be sure of anyone else. It was just… Everyone else. Dammit! He wanted to tell them… But would it make matters worse? Knowing those people, they were so quick to toss Lelouch away before, no doubt that they'll panic and do rash things now. Though this time, Nunnally probably had a plan. Knowing how much she was like her brother now it wouldn't surprise him at all. All he needed to do was to believe. At the current moment, he wasn't the one being kept in the dark. Suzaku knew what was happening in the world for once. The information was before him and the decision was his as well. He refused to make the mistakes that Lelouch had made in his planning. Yes. Everything and everyone would be fine and once this was over… The world could be a safe place for all of the people once again.

The sun peeked into his room then, gently lighting up the white sheets on his bed. A couple more hours and he would be facing Lloyd and Cecile with facts that he had keep to himself for so long. Suzaku padded over to the bathroom and washed his face of the sticky sweat. There were too many questions, all he could really do was hope for the best and wait. With so many different variables, he found himself wondering what Lelouch would have done. Yeah, he probably would have just found Raven and Geassed her into killing herself or something just as bad. When he found that girl, she should be darn thankful that it was him and not Lelouch.

Walking out of the bathroom, he sighed and changed his clothes to jeans and a black t-shirt before flipping on his sunglasses. It was six in the morning and he desperately needed something to fill his stomach. After slipping into sneakers, Suzaku headed out the door. The cool morning breeze hit him as he exited the inn. It was so nice today. The sky was blue with no clouds to be seen, and sun was glistening brightly as always. Humming a light tune, he headed out to find a small coffee shop where he could buy various breakfast items. Suzaku entered the first shop he could find and breathed in a long breath. Oh gosh. It smelled absolutely amazing to him. The cakes… And donuts… And cookies… Taking his place in line behind the counter, he waited for his turn to arrive. In five minutes, Suzaku left that shop with a bag that contained one of everything that little place had to offer. He felt extremely satisfied with the large amount of food he would have to eat.

Upon returning to his makeshift home, he found Lloyd and Cecile waiting outside. "Where is he?" His former boss groaned loudly, "Where is that guy? We've been waiting at least ten minutes!" Just then, a person came running from behind him and skimmed his shoulder. Due to the sudden movement, he was pushed into the wall and the sunglasses dropped off. In that moment Suzaku cursed himself for not getting those blasted contacts. As if this were a movie, time seemed to stop as his shades clinked to the ground. Tension filled the air as the both of them locked eyes with him. Breaking the contact, he reached down to pick up his was not the way he wanted to show them… With his hair still the same style, and those vibrant jade eyes, not soul in the world wouldn't be able to recognize him as the 'White Grim Reaper or Knight of Zero or just as Suzaku Kururugi the Prime Minister's son'. Suzaku automatically turned around to hide himself before realizing that if others were to remember him it would be a worse situation than they were in now. Damn. He had to get out of the open space where people could easily see him.

"Ms. Cecile and Mr. Lloyd, would you both please step inside my room? We can discuss it in there." His heart pounded in his chest as Cecile was the one who nodded and dragged Lloyd into his room after he opened the door. Flinging the glasses onto the bed, he sighed and sat down on the edge. It was obvious that he would have to tell them everything for anything to make sense, but he didn't want to. There were so many memories that he wished to bury forever… "Make yourselves comfortable," He mumbled and gestured to the two chairs in the room. "I'm sure there are questions for me… And the first thing I want to say, is that I'm sorry. Lelouch and I are both sorry for keeping this from you. So let me start from the beginning. It feels wrong to be telling his part of the story… My opinions on things may be wrong according to him-" At that moment he was interrupted by Lloyd, who had a usual loud and annoying comment.

"Soooooo…. His Majesty is alive~ Do you think he'll let me run test on that interesting Geass power of his? Or maybe see inside his brain and discover why he's such a genius? And how did he survive a sword through the heart? Hmm… Tell me Kururugi, was that all a show? Or has his majesty developed some sort of new power?" Sometimes…. Sometimes… Just sometimes, Lloyd absolutely amazed him. He didn't really care about what happened during the Black Rebellion or anything of that sort. The scientist just wanted to discover new things and make inventions out of them. It was like he didn't care at all about what happened to him in the past. "So Suzaku~ Where is Master Lelouch? Huh?" Before Lloyd could get another word out, Cecile smacked him on the head.

With that, he felt a pang hit his heart. It was like old times… Almost. Suzaku spared himself a smile as he watched the scene play out. "Lloyd! We're having a proper conversation here! Now is not the time to be talking about those things. I'm sure Suzaku has been waiting to tell us this for a long time. Besides, if his majesty were alive, it would be SECRET. The rest of the world doesn't know about the Zero Requiem, forget the rest of the world! Many people part of the inner circle don't even know! For once in your life, act like a gentleman." He would have laughed if it were even close to appropriate at the time. Instead Suzaku sighed at their words. Wow. They figured out many of the facts in seconds… When it took him at least three hours to straighten out all the factors he could think of.

"Oh come on Cecile! Don't you want to learn a bit more about geass as well? It isn't just me! I'm sure His Majesty would allow it. He seemed like a really easy going guy." Really? Were they both that interested in how Geass worked? But there was no way in hell he was going to let them conduct experiments. Knowing Lelouch, he wouldn't give Geass out to anyone, but if Lloyd and Cecile did up discovering how the strange power worked, it's very possible that the information might leak to others. With that happening, war was bound to start again. UGH. Why the heck were there so many ways for war to start? It was like any where he walked there was a land mine. Dammit. Plus, something else had just occurred to Suzaku. Lelouch was alive. He was the rightful ruler of Britannia now? If the inner circle of members turned their loyalty to him… Screw. It. All. He was thinking too much! Lelouch would never in a million years take the throne from his sister. Plus, the people would never accept it.

"Please stop this. I have no idea what gave you the impression, but Lelouch is not an easy going person. I don't think he'll ever let you run test on him Lloyd. But I guess the entire story isn't important to tell. Since the both of you were already involved with the plan, I'll simply explain the situation right now. I found four books that were Lelouch's diary… Then… After I read them I realized things that I didn't know before. The books stated that Lelouch was still alive, due to the power of his Code. Yes. He's like C.C. now. The thing is, at the current moment he's suffocating over and over in a coffin that no one knows the location of." Suzaku stopped for a moment and noted how casually he said that before continuing again, "The only thing that can lead us there are the blue cards that C.C. left for us. Except Raven Blackwood, the former Knight of Five stole them. Having had looked over her profile, I want to assume that she's doing it for revenge against me, since I… Killed her parents with the F.E.L.J.I.A bombing. The file also stated that she had tampering with Geass. Three years have passed since the Requiem and nobody but Nunnally and I know. If we are to stop Raven from doing whatever she has planned, there needs to be some alertness between everyone." He understood that there was tons of information he threw at them, but there really was no time. They had to come up with a game plan fast. "She has the cards. By showing the world that Lelouch is still alive, it will bring another war. Not to mention, it'll throw the world into chaos." Suzaku sighed loudly. He was anxious and relieved at the same time. It was nice finally telling this to someone else.

He watched as Cecile frowned unhappily, "Do you need us to bring you back to the palace?" Well. Um. The pair of them took that fairly well… If it were him receiving this amount of information, it very likely he would have passed out in the middle of it. These two never stopped amazing him over and over. But it was good. They found no fault in him trying to save Lelouch from himself. Well they were in on part of it… Hm. Still, he had to give them props for being able to handle so much information. Now if only he could convince the rest of those hard-headed idiots. "Suzaku, we'll support you in bringing the rest of them to see the truth. Though, I think picking up Jeremiah along the way would be a good idea. This Geass Canceller would help in proving that his majesty didn't put a geass on the three of us." Suzaku completely forgot to mention to before that he had a 'live on' Geass placed on him. Now was a good a time as any to tell them.

"Remember the battle on Kaname Island? Zero and I were in the Lancelot, it was then Lelouch activated his Geass. He told me to Live On! I'm very sure that Jeremiah would refuse to use his Geass Canceller on me, since it's going against Lelouch's wishes." He stated simply and sighed. No matter how easily Cecile made it sound, or how much her cheerfulness comforted him it was going to near impossible to flip everyone's mind about Lelouch. But he was Zero right? The man of miracles. No. He wasn't just as his dream stated before, he was a cheap replacement. Instead of pushing himself to create the plans, he should have consulted Nunnally and Prince Schneizel for advice. There were only a couple problems, he didn't trust Schneizel and he didn't want to put pressure on Nunnally. "Cecile… Will you call the others in for a meeting? With Raven bring a dangerous threat, we need everyone on board quickly. I will get Jeremiah and Anya, then meet you there."

"Good planning Suzaku. We'll get them together. Don't worry too much, everything will be fine. I can promise you." Another smile was given to him and Suzaku returned it. Putting his sunglasses back on and grabbing his duffel bag, he left the room, but not before giving the both of them a wave. Back to Orange's he goes…

* * *

**Hello! Sorry that this so long to write and that it doesn't have the greatest amount of action ;-; I really did try to make this a good chapter. Though, I can promise you that in the next chapter there will be more interesting things happening and longer. I actually have the entire story figure out, but it takes tons of time for me to write this in a way that I'm happy with. The last thing I wanted to touch on is the pairing for this. Sadly, there will be none. I wanted to make it Suzalulu, but the many people disagreed, so ended up not doing it. SuzaEuphy is implied in a way. Like when I mention his hatred for Lelouch, that'll appear, but I'm just trying to make this a little bit more professional xD. As for Lelouch (once he appears), there will be no shipping. Cannon ships such as Ohgi and Villeta will be happening. Sorry if you guys don't like it ;-; Message me about that if you wanna. But mostly, it'll be the search for Lelouch. No kissing, no hugging, no doing stuff romantically xD Thanks to Steampunk-Serenity for betaing. I'm also sorry that my Suzaku is sorta OOC. **

**I think that after three years he would have relaxed a lot, so that's the main reason for writing him as this. Plus, I usually roleplay Lelouch xD So I can't really do the other side well. **

**I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER IF YOU REVIEW**

**Thanks for reading- Azul**


	8. Chapter 8

It took two hours for him to walk to that damned orange farm. One, because he didn't get a chance to consume any food and two, because the sun was beating upon him. Honestly, it felt like a desert had set its sights on burning him to death. Suzaku was one hundred percent sure that the 'live' geass was telling him to go into the nearest patch of shade and sleep for a couple thousand years. Ugh! Everyone would have gathered by now, and he would be dying from heat hundreds feet away from a tree that gave orange circles. It was going to take forever to get over there. The farm wasn't even in his line of vision. Why? Why didn't he hail a cab? Oh right. Suzaku thought that calling a cab would take too much time since one seemed to come around once an hour in that small town. Dragging his duffel bag forward, he let out a sigh and pushed himself ahead.

Just when he was really about to throw in the towel, a row of trees and a pink haired girl on a ladder came into his line of vision. "Anya!" Suzaku said joyfully and dashed towards the trees. He had been walking/running for about twenty miles now and it was would be a lie to say that he was perfectly fine. Jumping over the white fence that surrounded the orchard, he immediately dropped himself under the tree Anya was working on. It had been years since he had ever felt this tired from just plain running. "H-hey… Got any water? I went through the three bottles in my bag." His response was an orange thrown at this face. Being the person he was, Suzaku managed to snag it out of the air inches before it hit him square in the eye. Then, being the optimistic guy he was, Suzaku took it as a gift from Anya. "An orange? Thanks!" He smiled and quickly tore off the peel began eating away happily at it. Never in his life had a little orange tasted so good. "Can I have another one?" On that note, Anya stepped down from the ladder and began throwing oranges at rapid speed at him. "H-hey! Stop it!"

Quickly jumping to his feet, he either deflected, dodged, or caught every single one of them that Anya targeted him with. In the end, Suzaku ended up carrying an arm full of fruit. "Wow! That orange really gave me strenght… Say, can I eat all of these as well?!" It was just natural instinct for him to avoid whatever was being thrown at him. It was extremely strange that, even when he was so exhausted, Suzaku still had the ability to do that. He thought about it for a moment before dismissing it without a thought. They were reflexes from war. The cold scars of battle and bitter memories will never leave him, whether positive or negative. A flash of pain crossed his eyes before they returned to their shimmering bright emerald. That was the past. The Black Rebellion led by his best friend was the past. Anya's observed him with the same emotionless look that she always held.

"Suzaku. You're slower than you use to be. Lloyd and Cecile called to inform Jeremiah and I about the current situation. You honestly believe you can beat Raven so easily? Don't forget that she was one of us, no matter how weak or strong you think her abilities are. Yes, the numbers are on our side, but what has she been doing these three years? If hatred drives her forward, Raven wouldn't be sitting around waiting for you to come and stop her, Suzaku." There was still no emotion on her face as she said the words, though there was still a hint of anger and annoyance. With those words, Suzaku gently dropped all the oranges at the base of the tree and met Anya's eyes. In some way, those words were true. If Raven had been training and making herself stronger, while the rest of them sat and grew fat… it was possible for them to lose-even with Kallen, himself, Gino, and Anya. In the end, it all came down to her strength and how many people Raven has with her. If she has a team of men with her that rival her own ability, then they would have major problems.

"I understand that completely Anya, but there are stronger soldiers on our side. I have confidence in our abilities. In the case that she does have a geass, Jeremiah will be there to assist us. Believe me in, no matter what stands in our way, if we work as a team… I'm sure we can do it." The confidence in his voice betrayed his real thoughts very, very badly. After dealing with Lelouch, it was like "expect the unexpected" and no way in hell did he want that to happen with Raven. The first step to making sure everything went smoothly, was to assure others that it would. Suzaku decided to deal with the problems when they arrived. It was annoying to think about everything over and over again. It was much, much easier for him to make the plan up as he went along. Giving Anya a semi-annoyed/confident look, he sighed. "Don't worry Anya. Things will work out. They always do. Can you take me to Jeremiah now? We need him for this."

The pink haired girl hesitated for a second before nodding and turning around, "Come." He let his pace fall three steps behind her, as they navigated through the hundreds of trees that gleamed with sweet fruit. Wind pushed his hair into his eyes, before blowing it back a second after. Although the area seemed to calm and gentle, the tension between the two Knights was horrible. The pair walked in silence for ten minutes before Anya spoke again. "What if no one decides to save Lelouch? What will you do?" Shock filled his face before Suzaku stopped walking. Actually… He knew the answer already, but he didn't know Anya's opinion of Lelouch. Plus, if she did decided to tell the others, it would be a major flaw in his plan. With or without the others' support, he was going to rescue Lelouch. No one deserved what his former best friend was putting himself through. That kind of punishment… What was Lelouch thinking?

"Britannia is a democracy now. I will go allow with what the others decide, but making sure the enemy doesn't find Lelouch is a must. Personally, I don't care about what happens to him. Lelouch took everything from me and I don't owe that bastard anything." Suzaku scowled angrily to keep the facade up. It wasn't particularly hard. His hatred for Zero was quite real and nothing could erase it. But, his heart still held onto the fact that Lelouch was not Zero. The mask was a different entity from Lelouch and himself. Anya gave him this pitiful look, before continuing to walk in the direction of the white house as if she saw through his scowl. The minute she looked away, Suzaku's angry expression dropped. Ugh. It was hard to look so furious when he generally wasn't. At the current moment, he was more annoyed than anything. Anya kept throwing these questions at him that invaded his personal thoughts. Before long, a white house appeared into their view, with Orange sitting on a rocking chair reading a book.

"Jeremiah. Nice to see you again. I'm sure you've been well informed of the situation. Will you be returning to the palace with me to rescue Lelouch?" He asked as he slowly approached the older man. Suzaku watched as Jeremiah looked up from his book to frown slightly. It wasn't a look of anger, or hatred-just disappointment. A couple of moments passed before he finally spoke again, "Your Geass canceller would be very useful to use."

With those words, Jeremiah laughed lightly, "You sound so much like his majesty right now. Lelouch has made a major impression on you. Hasn't he? Making the orders instead of taking them…" Jeremiah looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking again. "I have a question for you. If Lelouch refuses to come with you and sees you as an enemy, what will you do?" Again with the questions! These… He didn't even know the answer to himself. Why does everyone expect for him to know these right away. Couldn't he just make the decision when the times comes? If he wasted all his energy figuring out what could happen and when, it was still possible that what he predicted wouldn't happen. Then, all that time would have been for absolutely nothing! To him, it was better to spend his time training and working out. As long as he was called to battle, it would benefit him. The overanalyzing wasn't. Suzaku watched as Jeremiah set the book down to wait for his answer.

"He won't. I know Lelouch. And even though… These years… I know him. Lelouch holds hatred very well, but this isn't hatred. It's…" If it wasn't hate then what was it? Speaking truthfully, he had no idea to how think about Lelouch's feelings right now. It was extremely hard to pin it on one emotion. His old friend could have begun to hate, but it wasn't likely. Knowing Lelouch, it would be regret and shouldering the blame on himself. Though, the faces he wore could convince others differently. But now it didn't matter, Suzaku could ponder all he wanted later. At the current moment, he needed Jeremiah to simply agree to come and testify for the Zero Requiem. The faster he finished this, the better. Hoping for the best, he continued his answer, "Disappointment, frustration, sadness, heartbreak, and annoyance. But not hate. Lelouch and I could never hate each other. I hated Zero and Lelouch hate The Knight of Seven, but we never directly hated each other. We just saw things differently." Suzaku sighed and ran a hand through his hair. How many times had he lied today? Twenty? He couldn't keep up the fake confidence much longer.

"You seem to have confidence in you opinions. That's good." Jeremiah stood and smiled slowly. "Well. Anya grab your suitcase and let's go. It's about a four hour drive from the orange farm to the Palace and I'm sure we've already kept the others waiting for awhile." The man disappeared into the house with Anya, before exiting it a couple minutes later with his clothes packed. Jeremiah turned and locked the door before looking at Suzaku strangely, "Where are your things?" Then it hit him. Oops. He had forgotten all his clothes by the tree where he found Anya. It was those damn it be questions that threw him off guard.

"Heh… I left them by that tree. Y'know? The one where I saw Anya." His response was a sigh from Jeremiah and slightly annoyed look from the younger girl. "I'm sorry, here, I'll run over and get them. Turning away from them, he broke into a run and made a mental note to ask for water when he returned. Trying to remember the path, he looked for the different landmarks on trees. From afar the fruit trees looked more or less alike, but up close it was easy to spot thousands of differences between them. Suzaku matched each detail with the ones he had in his memory. Bam, he was at the place in ten minutes. Then, the first thing he noticed on his duffel bag was bird poo. Really? He had left the bag for twenty, maybe thirty minutes and there was a splatter of white on the zipper. Releasing a long sigh, Suzaku slowly picked it up and dashed back. Great. How could this already exhausting day get any worse? Oh wait. He had to spill the beans about the Zero Requiem. Hopefully that 'Live On' Geass would keep him in one piece.

He ran back. Wasting no time, Jeremiah hustled them into the car and drove.

~A crazy long drive later that almost drove Suzaku insane because Anya kept taking photos of him~

They came upon a mansion that looked like it might have belonged the Empress herself. A driveway loop was positioned in the front with a garden and fountain in the middle. Made from marble, the fountain stood proudly as the center piece, spewing out clear blue water. The flowers were all in full bloom as if they were greeting Suzaku's return. The colors ranged from white to purple. Any color of rose you could image was in the entrance garden. Flower trees created an amazing border to finish it all off. Then from the loop, a small stone path connected the mansion and driveway. A black gate with a white fence was also placed on that connecting path. Not to mention, the thirty guards that stood at attention with weapons. Yup. Zero was the hero of the world and everyone thought that he should have a "little" extra. The house itself was absolutely amazing. It was painted white and gold, with windows evenly placed on both insides. With over forty rooms, each created beautifully, it was the dream house of anyone.

Jeremiah pulled up into his (Zero's) personal Villa, before glancing back at him from the front. "I'm guessing you have your costume in that duffel bag. Get changed, they won't let us through that gate if you don't have identification. Anya close your eyes and no pictures." Suzaku flushed a light red and unzipped the duffel separating the pink haired girl and him. He watched as she nodded and turned around with her hand over her eyes. Taking out the costume, he quickly stripped (thank God for those tinted windows) and squirmed around to put on the outfit. It was probably one of the most annoying experiences in his life. Releasing a loud curse on Lelouch for having designed Zero's clothes like this, he finally place the helmet on his head. Considering how hot it was in that car, he was sweating the moment he started changing clothes. Taking the ID card from the bottom of his bag, he sighed. Along with the card that he had to show to them, there was a password that changed everyday that was sent to his phone. Because how easy would it be for some to simply make a Zero costume? Grabbing the decieve from his pocket, Suzaku quickly checked before muttering it once to himself.

Stepping out of the car, he pushed the cape behind and watched as the soldiers snapped to attention. "Master Zero. The Empress has been expecting your return. The others in the car with you, should we allow them to come in as well?" Suzaku's eyes automatically narrowed inside the mask. They just let him in without the proper identification and the password. Security needed to get it's act together. Especially since a conflict had arisen, everyone needed to be on their toes. These guards were no exception. "Is something wrong, master Zero?" They asked again after he didn't answer.

"Yes. There is. How can you prove that I'm not an imposter? Information that the Empress requested me does that mean that you can assume I am Zero. Even though the evil The Demon Emperor has been vanquished, there still is a minor threat. If anyone comes to this gate, I want identification and the password from their mouths. Is that clear?" He tossed them his card to examine before taking it back swiftly, "Green apples is the password for today. The two people will be given lodging in my home and give them their own ID cards. Tell them to wait in coffee room for now, then bring a car upfront." With those words, he swept past them and continued walking to his home. Muttering a thank you as a servant opened the door, he picked up his pace to headed to his own personal room. There were a couple things he needed before he was prepared to face the others.

Navigating through the halls, he finally reached the room. Suzaku headed straight for the false panel under the marble tile in the bathroom. A small, white safe was placed there that held his personal items. He entered the code before snatching the three items out and hiding it under his cape. His two symbols of Knighthood hung from a ring, one blue and white from beautiful Euphy, and the other gold and black from Lelouch. A scrapbook which contained many pictures of his times at the Kururugi Shine and the amazing times at Ashford with everyone. The last one was his father's pocket watch. He held it with gentle care in his hands as he walked to the coffee room where Jeremiah and Anya were waiting. He entered the room, "Let's go. It's now or never."

Jeremiah nodded and stood. As did Anya. The trio slowly walked to the car that was prepared and slid inside. Since the palace was about three miles away, they arrived within a matter of minutes. Suzaku sucked in a breath of air, his hands still full with the items he was carrying. Shifting all the items onto one arm, he pushed open the door and frowned underneath his mask. It was very possible that Kallen and Cornelia were going to kill him violently for this. Stepping out of the sleek, black car he slowly approached the main doors of the palace with Orange and Anya behind him. Once reaching a decent distance, he quickly flashed his ID card and the guards allowed him to continue. The trio's footsteps echoed through the halls as each step brought them closer to the meeting room. Stopping in front of the doors, he took in a long breath and mumbled, "Ready?"

Anya and Jeremiah both replied with a nod. With that, he pushed opened the doors into the meeting room.

Well. The automatic response was very interesting. Everyone sat straighter in their chairs when he walked into the room. Apparently even though Lelouch created Zero, everyone still respected him. Gino almost fell over when he noticed Anya. That almost made Suzaku burst out laughing. A couple of them tensed at Jeremiah, but didn't utter a word about it. Then, Schneizel simply sat there with a smirk on his face, as if he figured the entire thing out years ago. Ugh. It reminded him of Lelouch. The way the smirk looked as if it belonged on his damn face. No one moved though. The group of twenty people remained silent and wait for Zero to speak.

"Hello. Today's the day that I wish to share with you who I really am. Please stay silent and refrain from trying to kill me." Suzaku let the words sink in before he slowly raised a hand up to remove his mask. Beforehand, he asked that he cameras be shut off and that their meeting room had no windows from the outside. It would be a horrible mess if anyone else saw.

He was fully aware that it wasn't the very best way to start his speech, but if they were to trust what he had to say, it was important that his identity was known. Besides, they couldn't actually kill him. (Kudos to Lelouch. Yet again.) Placing his palm on the cool glass part of the mask, a small hissing sound was made as it slowly detached itself from him. The noise was the only thing to be heard in the entire room. Each one person had different reasons for wanting the truth: some were curious and others a theory they wanted to back up. A pit of worry and doubt filled Suzaku's stomach as he held the mask in front of his face. What if this didn't work? What if no one agreed to save Lelouch? What if… The world would crumble again because of this? How will the others react? Will they still hate him? Questions spun in his head. But it was now or never.

Closing his eyes, he dropped the mask to the floor. Raising a hand to pull off the mouth cover, he spoke, "It's been a long time hasn't it?"

AN: Hey. I'm sorry about this chapter being a bit longer and that the reactions aren't everything you wanted. It's hard to measure every characters' reactions so I plan to do that soon. There's a poll on it that I would so glad if you took.

Then there's the matter of Raven. It's been decided that she WILL have a Geass. I can promise it won't be too overpowered, but I'll open a poll for you to vote on the three powers that I'm stuck between. So that's the second poll that I would so glad if you looked at.

Thanks for reading! Pop me a review if you have the time.


	9. Chapter 9

**Beginning notes: Raven is not a major character, she'll disappear soon. There is no OC x anyone. **

There was silence as Suzaku scanned the room. Lelouch would have killed him for doing this. Probably with good reason as well… He might have just walked into a death trap or getting his arm shot off. Without a second's hesitation, Kallen's and Cornelia's guns were trained on him. "Please. Let me explain." Suzaku asked quietly. Their anger was understandable, but at the current moment there were larger problems to be dealt with and this couldn't take forever. There was an enemy out there.

"Hands up Kururugi. Explain before I put in a bullet in your heart." Sighing, he raised his hands into the air. How was he going to say this as fast as possible, but still give them sufficient information to trust him?

"Kallen. Princess Cornelia. I have a live geass placed on me, by Lelouch. Even if you fired, my body would be forced to dodge. Please lower your weapons and I will explain the situation to you." It wouldn't kill him, but like said before, losing an arm or leg from the simple careless mistake was not something he wanted to do. This was going to take a while…

Of course, being the people that they were - war veterans who had seen too much blood and death in their lives it took a three weeks for Suzaku to convince him of his innocent. For one of those three weeks he sat in a cell waiting for them to decide whether he should be removed from this world or trusted in. Luckily for him, Kallen and Nunnally fiercely represented Lelouch after they listened to his speech. (Bless them) Schneizel even pitched in his opinion after Suzaku asked.

So two weeks later, they had all decided that Lelouch was going to be located. Each member had their own reasons, some wanted answers, others out of love, and still a couple out of pure curiosity. Still, Lelouch was going to be rescued and that's all Suzaku needed.

It had required for him to give several speeches on geass, Lelouch's motives, his situation currently, and most of all, Raven. The strange girl who had stolen the books and cards from him; they wouldn't be able to continue until she was found. Cornelia had been a particularly rude snip at his athletic abilities, but he returned with reminding her of Zero. Eventually, after assessing every possible outcome, they decided that they would wear sunglasses while opening the coffin and only those had been geassed already would step close to the body. If Lelouch showed hostile intent, they decided that he would be thrown into solitary confinement.

Honestly, Suzaku wished they would move faster. Their discussions lasted enough for Lelouch to die millions of times again. He wanted to find Raven… Though, from the day he mentioned it, there had been a team of people working on it. Everything was examined to the detail, a report being sent out to look for the former knight of the round. Nothing was reported another month. It was only yesterday they had spotted her heading into an abandoned warehouse.

And now, they were standing in front of it. His eyes flickered over the old wooden structure standing in an rural abandoned area of the bay. A strong wind seemed able to shatter the building into a million pieces. The windows' glass was shattered over the floor and the rusty door seemed to be unopened in hundreds of years. Suzaku looked at the building with a shiver, perhaps from the cold or the uneasy feeling pooling in his stomach. Even the warm coat over his Britannian uniform was unable to trap the heat this close to the water.

He watched Gino, Anya, and Kallen from the corner of his eye, wondering if any of them received the chill down their spine. There was something off about this house… "Proceed with caution." Suzaku muttered as they stepped towards the side door.

With their numbers, they shouldn't need the element of surprise. Besides, there was no where else there seemed to be an entrance. Though, the backup wasn't close to this location. Driving a truck with military operations would attract unwanted attention from the citizens of the city.

The three others nodded silently as they stepped together towards the door. Suzaku and Gino locked eyes before shoved open the door. Automatically, his soldier instincts overcame him. He dropped to the side and behind a shelf, out of gun range if it came to that. Suzaku scanned the landscape. It didn't seem to be anything special. It was the dingy factory, but there was a bed with water running into a pot in corner. There didn't seem to be anyone here-

A face flickered in front of him for a moment before it quickly disappeared into the shadows. "Careful-" He barely managed to get out before the attacker's fist collided with his cheek. Suzaku swiped towards the cloaked figure, trying to capture her before he killed. They had their orders to bring her back alive.

He was engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy for only a matter of seconds, whose cloak slipped off to reveal Raven, before a scream echoed through the empty factory. Kallen had stopped mid-dash, her eyes wide fixed on Raven. "N-naoto… What…" The gun laid limp in her hands, slipping out of her fingers. "N-naoto! You can't be real… How? Why… Are you really…"

He left her to Gino seeing that he ran over to help her. What the hell was going on? Suzaku managed to land a kick to Raven's side when Kallen's fist smashed into his jaw. "What the- Kallen I'm on your side!" He asked as he dodged the swing from his teammate. His eyes flickered to the side long enough to catch Gino mumbling to himself, eyes filled with terror.

"Hurt Naoto and I'll kill you, Kururugi." Kallen muttered as she continued to launch attacks on him. The black haired girl smirked behind the redhead. Had she done this to her? He couldn't fight them both… Where was Anya? Had she found the books yet?! Gino was moaning on his knees, Anya looking for the books unable to help him, and Kallen was fighting against him. What had happened?

Of course, being the poor soul that he was, the answer was soon apparent. A second of eye contact with the mysterious girl caused his vision to transform. A princess he knew very well stood in front of him: Euphemia. His thoughts of previous things seemed to fall away at the sight of the princess. Nothing mattered anymore other than the girl in front of him. Her appearance wiped every thought swimming in his mind: the pain, the adrenaline, and the stress were all gone.

Everything seemed to be perfect for a second. Euphemia looked alive! Expect, it wasn't his dream girl. It was… Massacure Princess. Her dressed was stained with the darkest of blood. Her eyes bloodshot as she fired the gun into a crowd of people. Bodies were draped onto the ground and Suzaku finally released a desperate scream. His legs seemed to give out as he collapsed onto the ground.

Was this real? His mind seemed to freeze as Euphemia trained her gun on his forehead. Suzaku felt his knees go weak as reached forward to grab her, but it was nothing more than air. Was this the end for him…? Was this how he was going to die? The princess who he loved shooting his brains?

He looked up at her one more time, begging for any sign that this wasn't real. But it was. Everything seemed to be perfect. Suzaku looked up into her eyes for a moment, looking for something in her expression… Nothing. This was the end of the line for him. He was going to die by the hand of his princess.

Suddenly, the illusion snapped. Automatically, Suzaku's body snapped towards the right. His mind was pulled back into the real world as Lelouch's geass had appeared. The firing of Raven's bullet missed his head and smashed into the side of the wooden wall. It was pure instinct when he charged forward with fists swinging. Of course, living on conditions like this made Raven stronger. Her movements were more swift and accurate then he remembered it.

But he was the Knight of Zero and before that the Knight of Seven and even farther down the line he was a personal knight, a soldier, and a kid who was raised on battle. He knew what he was doing. Suzaku's struck blow after blow, his fist smashed into her jaw twice before Suzaku was finally able to pin her down. With her arms behind her back, Suzaku pressed her stomach into the ground with his knee. Finally…

His eyes flickered towards Gino and Kallen, their illusions seem to be vanishing. Their eyes cleared and focused slowly. What had this girl done? There was only one power capable of this destruction... Geass. His eyes flashed with anger as he grabbed her chin and pushed it so her eyes were in his view. Sure enough, there was a dark red sigil in the middle of her eyes. Geass… The cursed power. What did Raven do? Cause someone to see their worse memory? How many times had she used this power for it to be printed on her eye?

"Where are the journals. and cards" He growled and placed a bit more pressure of her spine.

Blood spurted from her mouth as she spoke, "G-gone. I destoryed them." What?!

"Why you…!" He crushed her face into the ground. There was no way she didn't have the cards. Raven knew of their existence! And she only started collecting them after Suzaku had gone after them. There must be information she was withholding. "Tell me where they are!" He snapped, his voice echoing through the empty warehouse.

"I…!" She breathed heavily, "I can't tell you! I can't tell you where they are! He made it that way."

Suzaku flipped the girl onto her back, his eyes staring into her, searching for signs of red. Similarly to last time, there they were. A brim of red along with the the red bird in her red eyes. Was this Lelouch's doing? Did he place and give geass to her to keep others away from his body? There wasn't anyone else he was aware of that had geass that could command people. Lelouch's journal had written that they were all dead… All of them, but himself and C.C. And with code, their geass was inactive. What does that mean? Did Lelouch do this knowing that he would die?

"Tell me what you know!" He commanded. Raven had geass. Lelouch used geass on Raven. Raven was protecting the cards. What could he do? Was there a loophole? What could he ask to get answers and lead him to Lelouch?

The body pinned under his seemed to relax slightly, "I- I can tell you his resting vi Britannia lies where the sky greets the flowers. His coffin is placed under the moment of happiness. His mind, if you're lucky, is forever lost." A loophole. How would he know she's telling the truth? He had nothing to go off than his.

"How do you know!?"

"I can't say anything about the cards! But I know the place where he is! if I say it like that, it's vague enough! I can't say it directly because it won't let me! Something won't let me! It won't let me say it!" At this point, Gino and Kallen had walked over with rope. Suzaku stood and stripped off the cloak on Raven to form a blindfold.

"Use your… Geass again, I'll leave you in a cell to rot." He pushed himself up from the floor and handed the prisoner over the others. Anya appeared three minutes after, announcing the search was futile. There only hope was the riddle. But where did it lead? Where was the sky and flowers… He'd have to ask Schneizel.

Sky and flowers… His eyes flickered towards the sky as they exited the warehouse, heading towards the transport waiting for them. Sky and flowers… _Sunflowers. _

And it all suddenly made sense.

**AN: So. Uh. Update? It moves quickly, but I don't want to drag it on. The beginning of reactions was going to be impossible to do justice to without a chapter for each person. So I did a time skip. This chapter didn't make sense to you, it's basically they hunt down Raven and get information. Lelouch may or may not appear in the next chapter. **


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